Saturday, April 21, 2007

Indivisable Loads and How Wyoming Got Stupid.

Indivisable loads.

Yay these many years ago it come upon beuracrats and naceant lawmakers that the common man had life MUCH too easy. They saw it as their diety given duty to eradicate that. Life then become more complex.

As an example of that. Permits.

Back when if a farmer had "stuff" that needed to go to market he loaded it on his wagon and took out. If he overloaded his wagon then the wagon broke....or more likely the mules (or horses) pulling the wagon went on strike. No big deal....reality.....deal with it.

With the advent of the infernal cumbustion injun and roads...things got more complex. Suddenly...we had to have rules. Maximiums were set. Currentlly the maximium weight allowable on the interstate network is 80,000 lbs gross (load + the vehickle combination it's on or in).

But wait a minit. Suppose the Govenor of some state...oh...pick a state....like maybe Wyoming....has interest in a Open Pit Mine....or maybe one of the Guv's major campaign contributors owns that mine...or oil well drilling company....or whatever......and needs "Big Stuff" transported for purposes of that business.

Stuff that weighs bunches more than 80,000 on the truck.

Well....that's where "indivisable load" comes in. If a load cannot be "readily and practically taken apart.....(yadda yadda legal double talk)....then an overweight permit may be issued for the purposes of transporting that load.

Load. Keyword.

Most reasonable folks would think that if you had....oh...say a windmill nacelle on a 2+2+2 configuration 9 axel rig that weighed 95 thousand lbs then that would constitute indivisible....and they'd be right.

Most reasonable folks wouldn't pay much attention to the blocks of wood...the extra chains not in use right that minute....the tools...and/or the hundred and one other things that the trucker MIGHT have stored on the trailer that he has use of ocassionally...for other loads...for maintenance...or for safety purposes. As long as the "stuff" was secure and wasn't gonna fall off in the road then it was no big deal.

Most reasonable folks.

Wyoming D.O.T. used to be reasonable. Not any more. December of 06 they got stupid.

Right now the rule is that the ONLY THING that can be on an overweight permited trailer is the load...the dunnage it's sitting on...and the securement devices (chains and binders) used to hold it on the trailer...AT THAT TIME. Nothing else.

Like say...tarps? Which aren't necessary for THAT load..but are for other loads...and cost about $800 each....and were stored on the unused upper cargo deck.

Extra chains...in case one breaks...stored in the neck...on a chain rack...provided by the trailer manufacturer for that express purpose...

Extra binders....shackles....

Tools....

Extra or other Dunnage....

Nope....can't be on the trailer. Not even in a toolbox on the trailer. Not even in a toolbox that is inextricably fastened to the trailer....that's intrical to the trailer...built in by the manufacturer. Nope....the tool box is OK...but it's gotta be empty.